Where's my angel?
by damaged17
Summary: Summary inside. No flames
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters besides Danielle and Derek.

**Summary: **It has been well over seven years since Leah Lewis-Hall and Ethan Longacre's heartbreaking goodbye, and life goes on in some ways. Leah has it all--the perfect fiance' and the perfect step-daughter (soon to be stepdaughter, that is) but she still feels it isn't enough. She loves Derek Moore and his young daughter, but in a different way from how she loved Ethan. When a letter from Charity comes, that holds nothing but bad news. Will Leah return to the Longacre's life? Will she take Derek and Danielle with her? And what about her and Ethan? What does their future hold?

* * *

"I will love you until angels close my eyes, Leah Lewis-Hall." He whispered to her in her dreams again as he itched towards her, lifting her chin as if he were going to kiss her--

_Buzz buzz buzz._

_Darn alarm clock_, Leah thought to herself, rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up.

It had been seven years since Leah had last seen Ethan Longacre, and there wasn't a day that went by without her thinking of him from time to time. And then there were those occasional dreams, that have been coming more and more lately. He was her first love, and she still wasn't one hundred percent over him. Which wasn't fair to her her fiance', Derek Moore.

She had met Derek at the hospital she was interning at, and had immediatly liked him. They of course started off as good friends, and had eventually turned into something more. She truly did care for him, but she still had yet to feel the major spark she felt with Ethan whenever she had kissed him, whenever he had touched her.

"Good mornin'." Derek said from the bathroom that was joined to their bedroom. "You were smiling in your dream, what were you dreaming about?"

Leah simply smiled, not wanting to tell him the truth and instead told him a lie. "Our wedding."

"Good." Derek said climbing onto the bed and sitting next to her. "It's all I've been thinking about lately, myself."

She smiled sweetly and kissed his forhead, "It's my day off, and you have to work?"

"Nope, I'm going to go pick up Danielle." He said simply, sliding a green polo shirt over his head.

Danielle was Derek's eight year old daughter from his girlfriend from high school. Leah loved Danielle as if she were her own daughter, which at times it felt like she was her daughter.

She smiled to herself, instantly thinking about Rebekah Longacre. Danielle reminded Leah a lot of the little Longacre, who was taken from the Longacre's way to soon and sighed. After that dream. she had not stopped thinking about the Longacre's. Was Ethan married to Martha? What about Charity and Jonas? Sometimes thoughts of that family ate her alive, because she didn't know what they had been up to the past year and a half since Charity stopped writing her letters.

The last she had heard was: Oma had passed away peacefully and Opa was not doing well ever since. Eli had tried to come back and visit twice and both times everyone but Mr. Longacre had welcomed him back with open arms.

Nothing about Ethan though.

That's when she decided to write a letter to Charity, and pray to god she would write her back.

_Dear Charity,  
It is just me Leah. I haven't heard from you in ages, and I was starting to wonder what happened? Did I say something in my last letter to offend you? Or did you just not get it?_

_I miss you, Charity. I miss everyone from your family so much, it's been years since I last saw any of you, and it's been hurting more and more as the years go by._

_I have some news to share with you, my dear friend, that I should have shared a while back when we were still writting. I started seeing this man, Derek, who I work with at Saint Mary's hospital, and we just recently got engaged and are in talks of getting custody of his daughter, Danielle. She's really adorable--but she reminds me of little Rebekah, which makes me sad and happy at the same time._

_Now, to ask you, how has everything been going for you? Have you married yet? Has Ethan been baptized?_

_Please, Charity, write me back as soon as possible._

_Your friend,  
Leah._

Leah sat down her pen, and put the letter in an envelop then sealed it. She quickly freshened up and made her way to mail it so she could be home when Derek and Danielle arrived.

_Please, god_, Leah thought to herself, _let her write me back as soon as she can._


	2. Chapter 2

For weeks Leah Lewis-Hall waited, praying to god that a letter would soon arrive from Charity Longacre. Between work and planning her wedding, Leah was very busy, but she always made sure she was the one to check the mail first.

The letter came a little over a month after she had written Charity, and as soon as she saw where it was from her heart skipped a little beat and quickly teared the envelope open.

_Dear Leah,  
My, it has been long since we last have spoken, and I'm afraid that it is my fault. I have been so busy lately I barely have time to breath._

_It is wonderful you have found someone you care about, and for that I am happy for you. I only wish Ethan could do the same._

_To answer your questions, yes, Jonas and I were married not to long after I last wrote you, and I am expecting my first child later on in the year, and I am very nervous, I hope I can be a good parent, as my mother._

_Ethan was not baptized, and once again is thinking about leaving the amish community. He has not seemed to find another women he has cared about, and it's obvious you left a permanent mark on his heart._

_I would like to invite you to come down for a visit sometime within the next month, before I have my son or daughter. You can stay with Jonas and I, and you are welcome to bring your soon to be family. I look forward to meeting them both, and we have a lot to catch up on. Write me back with the dates you chose to come visit, and I will be waiting for you._

_Love,  
Charity_

Leah smiled to herself while she reread the letter. She was surprised, that after a month, Charity had replied. She could barely contain the excitement of visiting the Longacre's. All she had to do was convince Derek to go with her. Which could prove to be a problem, since he knew the whole story about Ethan. About Leah's heart being broken, about her cancer, about the death of the littlest Longacre. But he also knew that the Longacres had a special place in her heart.

"What're you smile about," Derek asked, grabbing her from behind and nuzzling her neck.

Leah sighed as she turned to wrap her arms around his neck. "Charity Longacre wrote me."

"Oh." He simply said, looking at Leah in a strange way. "I didn't know the two of you still kept in touch?"

"I, um, wrote her a letter about a month ago." Leah simply said, kissing his cheek. "I hadn't heard from her in ages and I was starting to wonder if everything was okay."

He nodded, "Understandable."

The room was silent for a few minutes before Leah offered, "She invited you, me and Danielle to come for a visit."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?" Leah asked, shocked. "You know how important that family is to me."

He shook his head, "I just...I don't want you to have to see Ethan."

"I think...I think it would be okay to see Ethan! Plus, we don't have much to do this summer besides plan the wedding, and Danielle will be here for the most part, it would be something to do. It would be good for her to learn how the amish live, what it's like..."

"Fine." He finally said, sighing in defeat. "You had me at Danielle learning something."

"Good." Leah smiled, and grabbed a piece of paper out of her desk. "How about we go in two weeks for about a month?"

"If it's really what you want." He said kissing her forehead. "I just want you to be happy."

Leah nodded, "It's what I want."

"Then we leave in two weeks." Derek said smiling as he picked up his car keys. "I have to go pick up Danielle and I'll fill Layne in on the arrangments."

"I'll see you in a while then."

As soon as Derek left, Leah picked up her pen and wrote a reply to Charity's letter.

_Dear Charity,  
I was so pleased to see you replied, after a while there I thought you had forgotten about me. But, I guess I was just being overly paranoid._

_Derek and I discussed it and he, Danielle and I would love to come down for a visit in two weeks. We'll get a hotel suite, that way we won't be much of a bother. We'll probably stay down for a month and go visit my mother as well._

_You and Jonas are having a baby, you say? My, that's wonderful!_

_And Ethan hasn't been baptized yet? Wow, we'll discuss all this stuff when I get there._

_See you soon my friend. With Love,  
Leah._

She would have to wait until Derek came back with Danielle before she could mail it, since he took their car and it was raining so she didn't want to walk to the post office and get drenched. She could not wait to see Ethan again...Charity, she could not wait to see Charity again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: so, the arrivals are here! i had a bit of writers block, which is unusual for me. but i finished a chapter, and another one will be coming really soon. think of these next to chapters as split from one full chapter.

and **thanks megluvsu **for your kind words, means a lot! this chapter's dedicated to you!

ps; readers? any ideas of who you think Leah will end up with in the end?

* * *

"We're here!" Leah stopped the car infront of the hotel she had booked for Derek Danielle and her.

It was a pretty big size hotel for the area, and she originally planned on staying at the bed and breakfast until she found out that they had closed.

"Wow," Danielle said, looking around the the front of the hotel. "This place is huge!"

Danielle grabbed her doll out of the seat next to her, and grabbed Leah's hand. "Auntie Leah, is there going to be food when we get up to our room? I want mac n' cheesy."

Leah laughed, and played with Danielle's hair. "We have somewhere to go first."

"And we'll be having dinner with some of Auntie Leah's old friends." Derek replied, grabbing some bags out of the trunk of the car. "Want to go check out the suite?"

"Yeah," Leah said, taking out her cell phone. "I'll be up soon, I have to make a quick call to my mother, she wants us to go visit tomorrow."

Leah dialed her mothers number, and waited for an answer. When she didn't answer the phone Leah just left a voicemail saying: "We made it to Indiana, safe and sound. We're going to be visiting the Longacres tonight for a reunion dinner and then we'll get some sleep and come see you for a while. Call me back, Love ya!"

"I can't believe I'm here," Leah said smiling at the sky before she made her way into the hotel to check in.

* * *

"Ethan." Charity said, going into her brothers house he had built. Even though he wasn't yet baptized, he still somehow managed to have his own house.

Ethan looked at his sister and simply said, "Charity."

"I have some good news." Charity started, without making eye contact with her brother. She wasn't sure if he'd be happy to have Leah come visit, or not. She hadn't really thought it through yet, and never told him.

"Go on." He said, looking around the small house bored. "I have to go do some work on the fields with Pa."

Charity nodded, and smiled. "Well...we'll start off with, guess who wrote me?"

"Eli?"

"No, brother. Leah Lewis-Hall. You remember her, don't you big brother?" Charity smiled, grabbing her stomach as the baby started kicking.

"Leah?" He started slowly in a voice no louder than a whisper, "My Leah."

"She's visiting soon."

"How soon?"

"She's coming to dinner tonight at my house, and I was hoping you would come." Charity looked at her brother hopefully.

"I'll come." He said after a few moments of silence.

Charity got up, and wobbled to the door, "Oh, one important detail..."

"Yeah?" Ethan said, smiling.

Charity couldn't tell him about Derek and Danielle yet, he'd have to find out for himself. He was smiling more than she'd seen him smile in the past seven years, and she didn't want to be the one to crush it. "Nothing. I shall see you later."

* * *

As soon as Charity heard the knock on her door, she practically ran (okay, not ran since she's pregnant) to answer it.

"Leah!" She yelled, grabbing her old friend for a hug. "I have missed you very much so!"

"Oh, gosh, Charity! I've missed you to!" Leah said, hugging her friend back and smiling when she felt the baby kick. "My, you've gotten bigger? Gained some weight?"

Charity smiled warmly and laughed, "And this must be Danielle and Derek."

"Hello." Derek said, nudging Danielle who went and hid behind him and said a soft hello, too. "It's very nice to finally meet you Charity. I have heard many things about you."

"As have I," Charity smiled and offered them some lemonade. "C'mon in, Derek if you want you can go talk to my husband."

"Alright." Derek said, kissing Leah on the forehead before exiting the room.

"Daddy wait!" Danielle scrambled to catch up with her dad. Forever a daddy's girl, she caught up with him and didn't want him out of her site.

"She does remind me of Rebekah too, Leah." Charity said dabbing her eyes. "It upsets me, but it makes me happy in a strange way."

Leah sighed and said, "I know how you feel..."

"Let us walk around the house and yard," Charity said rising to her feet, "There is much I must show you."

Leah stood up and linked arms with Charity, "Ah, yes."

Leah giggled as Charity showed her around the house and the land, and as they went into the kitchen she got a quick hug from Danielle, and Jonas even apologized to her for their teenage years. The night was going so well, there was only one thing--_person_, that would make it even better.


End file.
